BPL hard work for bowlers - Arafat

Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan medium-pacer, has said the Bangladesh Premier League is not an easy tournament for bowlers, and the hectic schedule is something teams need to manage carefully. Arafat, who plays for Barisal Burners, has taken six wickets in four games in the Twenty20 tournament so far, and has an economy-rate of 7.85.

"It's hard work for the bowlers, as the pitches are very batsman friendly and the boundaries are not the largest," Arafat told Pakpassion.net. "Bowlers are thoroughly tested on these sorts of pitches and in this format.

"The matches are coming thick and fast and there is very little time to recover from each match and from injuries. We have recently lost bowler Shane Harwood for the rest of the tournament due to a hamstring injury, so that puts extra responsibility on the other bowlers."

Arafat, who has played in the Champions League Twenty20, for Sussex in 2009, as well as domestic Twenty20 competitions in England, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan, said he was impressed with the organisation of the BPL and the support it has received.

"I'm really enjoying playing in Bangladesh; the crowds are fantastic and very enthusiastic about the sport. The passion for cricket in Bangladesh is immense and no doubt such tournaments will raise the profile of the sport further.

"The organisers have done a fantastic job given the short amount of time they had to organise the tournament and, on a personal level, it's great to be playing with and against players from all over the world."

One of the international players who Arafat has had an opportunity to play with is Chris Gayle, who has already made his mark on the BPL with two centuries in four games. "It's wonderful to be playing on the same team as Chris Gayle," Arafat said. "It's also a bit of a relief, as it means I don't have to bowl to him."

Gayle's opening partner at Barisal is Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad, who Arafat said has not been overshadowed by Gayle. "Ahmed Shehzad is a fantastic talent, with all the shots. At times he has matched Gayle shot for shot. It's breathtaking watching the two of them bat together."

Arafat said he saw the BPL succeeding in the long term. "This is the first BPL tournament and I'm sure future tournaments will be even bigger and better."

Barisal Burners have won two of their first four games in the BPL and are fourth in the table. Their next game is against Chittagong Kings on February 16.

I hope cricinfo will give full coverage of BPL everyday with live commentary. Its going very nice..

WinT20
on February 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

This is total impartial on behalf of the cricinfo to the cricket loving fans...the BPL should be treated same as the IPL and BBL...we want afull coverage of the BPL in cricinfo with live commentary..

on February 15, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Great Tournament organized by Bangladeshis

on February 15, 2012, 14:03 GMT

I Like cricket and also my faveroute game is cricket but i like BPL and my favrout opening Crys Gale and Ahmed Shehzad...................................

on February 15, 2012, 13:31 GMT

It's a good competition so far and it's organized well; and a lot of interesting stuff is taking place. It's almost like CricInfo trying it's very best to minimize what is going on. More coverage would be great.

muannis
on February 15, 2012, 12:52 GMT

We want live commentary & more coverage of BPL from CRICINFO . It really has been a great tournament and as big as IPL .

d_afridi
on February 15, 2012, 7:38 GMT

the tournament is getting more heat as it goes on....im enjoying it....but why cricinfo is being so unfair to the league...when IPL is going on the headlines is all about IPL...even right now a couple of news is about Sahara n BCCI patch up....and BPL is not being given importance...

K.A.K
on February 15, 2012, 7:29 GMT

Good to see Yasir Arafat and Ahmed Shehzad performing well in BPL. I would love to see Chris Gyle bck in West Indies side.

on February 15, 2012, 6:16 GMT

i hope double B will continue their good performance if gayle departed from the team...best of luck barishal

on February 15, 2012, 6:05 GMT

I dont understand the snub from cricinfo on the BPL. I have to scroll down on the homepage to get to a BPL article everyday, let alone the expectation of live commentary text. I believe there is a high demand for the tournament globally and is justified by the consistentency of the keyword on your popular searches.

on February 17, 2012, 17:40 GMT

I hope cricinfo will give full coverage of BPL everyday with live commentary. Its going very nice..

WinT20
on February 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

This is total impartial on behalf of the cricinfo to the cricket loving fans...the BPL should be treated same as the IPL and BBL...we want afull coverage of the BPL in cricinfo with live commentary..

on February 15, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Great Tournament organized by Bangladeshis

on February 15, 2012, 14:03 GMT

I Like cricket and also my faveroute game is cricket but i like BPL and my favrout opening Crys Gale and Ahmed Shehzad...................................

on February 15, 2012, 13:31 GMT

It's a good competition so far and it's organized well; and a lot of interesting stuff is taking place. It's almost like CricInfo trying it's very best to minimize what is going on. More coverage would be great.

muannis
on February 15, 2012, 12:52 GMT

We want live commentary & more coverage of BPL from CRICINFO . It really has been a great tournament and as big as IPL .

d_afridi
on February 15, 2012, 7:38 GMT

the tournament is getting more heat as it goes on....im enjoying it....but why cricinfo is being so unfair to the league...when IPL is going on the headlines is all about IPL...even right now a couple of news is about Sahara n BCCI patch up....and BPL is not being given importance...

K.A.K
on February 15, 2012, 7:29 GMT

Good to see Yasir Arafat and Ahmed Shehzad performing well in BPL. I would love to see Chris Gyle bck in West Indies side.

on February 15, 2012, 6:16 GMT

i hope double B will continue their good performance if gayle departed from the team...best of luck barishal

on February 15, 2012, 6:05 GMT

I dont understand the snub from cricinfo on the BPL. I have to scroll down on the homepage to get to a BPL article everyday, let alone the expectation of live commentary text. I believe there is a high demand for the tournament globally and is justified by the consistentency of the keyword on your popular searches.

No featured comments at the moment.

on February 15, 2012, 6:05 GMT

I dont understand the snub from cricinfo on the BPL. I have to scroll down on the homepage to get to a BPL article everyday, let alone the expectation of live commentary text. I believe there is a high demand for the tournament globally and is justified by the consistentency of the keyword on your popular searches.

on February 15, 2012, 6:16 GMT

i hope double B will continue their good performance if gayle departed from the team...best of luck barishal

K.A.K
on February 15, 2012, 7:29 GMT

Good to see Yasir Arafat and Ahmed Shehzad performing well in BPL. I would love to see Chris Gyle bck in West Indies side.

d_afridi
on February 15, 2012, 7:38 GMT

the tournament is getting more heat as it goes on....im enjoying it....but why cricinfo is being so unfair to the league...when IPL is going on the headlines is all about IPL...even right now a couple of news is about Sahara n BCCI patch up....and BPL is not being given importance...

muannis
on February 15, 2012, 12:52 GMT

We want live commentary & more coverage of BPL from CRICINFO . It really has been a great tournament and as big as IPL .

on February 15, 2012, 13:31 GMT

It's a good competition so far and it's organized well; and a lot of interesting stuff is taking place. It's almost like CricInfo trying it's very best to minimize what is going on. More coverage would be great.

on February 15, 2012, 14:03 GMT

I Like cricket and also my faveroute game is cricket but i like BPL and my favrout opening Crys Gale and Ahmed Shehzad...................................

on February 15, 2012, 17:42 GMT

Great Tournament organized by Bangladeshis

WinT20
on February 17, 2012, 11:01 GMT

This is total impartial on behalf of the cricinfo to the cricket loving fans...the BPL should be treated same as the IPL and BBL...we want afull coverage of the BPL in cricinfo with live commentary..

on February 17, 2012, 17:40 GMT

I hope cricinfo will give full coverage of BPL everyday with live commentary. Its going very nice..